As many of you probably know, Gryphon got its start several years ago when a young student programmer named Mike Joseph was hired by Michigan State University’s ‘Independent Voice’, The State News , as their webmaster. Almost immediately after he was hired, work began on an early version of what you now know as the Gryphon CMS.

Several years and many revisions later, Detroit Softworks was formed in 2009 (by Context Craft, LLC, our parent company) specifically to work with The State News to bring you their CMS as a hosted and supported commercial CMS service. And now, starting this summer, we’ll be working with them on more than just the continuing development of Gryphon, as they’ll be getting involved with our support structure as well.

This is something we think is good for everyone, as not only does it reduce the distance from support to programming, it allows your development ideas to be heard more easily, as well as provide a few additional learning (and income) opportunities for State News students.

The sad part is that the SN crew will begin by taking over some duties from Patrick Wellever, who will be stepping down as our Gryphon lead in order to get back into journalism on the East Coast. Patrick just happens to be a great tech and designer in addition to his considerable (and chosen) skills as an honest-to-God journalist, and we were lucky to have had the chance to work with him as long as we did.

While we’re sorry to see him leave, the predominant feeling around here is one of gratitude, for all that he did for Detroit Softworks (and for you, too, I would bet). We wish him all the best. He’ll be here until the end of the month, so you’ve got some time to send him your love before he busts out for good.